Ammar ibn Yasir

Ammar ibn Yasir (570-657) was one of the first converts to Islam. A slave like Bilal ibn Rabah, Ammar was the first Muslim to build a mosque, and he was one of the most loyal and beloved companions of Muhammad and Ali. In 657, he was killed at the Battle of Siffin.

Biography
Ammar ibn Yasir was born in 570, the same year as Muhammad, the son of sahabah Yasir ibn Amir and a slave woman, Sumayyah ibn Khayyat. His parents were slaves of Amr ibn Hisham, a cruel Quraysh pagan chieftain, and he was a slave alongside Bilal ibn Rabbah. In 610, Bilal told him about Muhammad's message that all men are created equal under God, and Ammar sought to meet Muhammad. Ammar was freed by Abu Bakr after his conversion in 614, and he participated in the Battle of Badr in 624. After Muhammad's death, he refused to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr, instead siding with Ali; this made him one of the first Shi'ites. He served as governor of Kufa under Umar, but he was dismissed due to the intrigues of his political enemies. Ammar was one of the men who fought at the Battle of the Camel in 656, and he was slain at the Battle of Siffin in 657.